Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (17 page)

“You said to surprise you, so let’s go.” He climbed
out and waited until I joined him. I followed as he stepped onto a narrow dock
that bounced and swayed as our feet touched the wooden planks. Boats of a
variety of different sizes lined each side. There was a small aluminum row boat
docked beside a large white shiny yacht named
Beelzebub
.

I followed him down to the end until he stopped along
a large red speedboat. “Climb on,” he called, reaching for my hand. I noticed
the name
Moonlight Mist
as I stepped up and over the hull.

“Whose boat is this?”

“The Rileys. It’s one of the perks to working at the
charity.”

“Are you sure this is okay? What are we going to do?
Just hang out?” I asked, about to sit down on one of the seats, but hesitating.
I couldn’t stop worrying that Mr. Riley would show up at any moment.

He noticed my hesitation and laughed. “It’s fine.
We’re going for a ride.” He nodded to reassure me. I wasn’t sure if it worked,
but I sat down anyway, not entirely confident we should be doing this.

When he turned the key in the ignition, water bubbled
from behind and the smell of gas drifted out as the motor roared to life.
Apprehension flowed through me at the sound.

We started to slowly move backwards. “Are you really
sure they won’t mind? I mean you’re only eighteen and they let you use their
speedboat?”

He looked at me and paused. “I told you, it’s one of
the perks of working for them. Now relax and enjoy. Being on the water at night
is amazing.” Once we were out of the way of the other boats he pushed down on
the throttle and we really took off. The wind whipped my hair, blowing it in my
face. I had to hold it back so I could see the lights glowing off the shore as
we sped by houses and businesses.

He was right. It was awesome. He spun us around the
lake, pointing out his cottage, the Riley estate and other houses he knew of.
Most were members of the board of directors for the charity he helped run.

After driving around for a while he pulled up to Lake
Wapoose. It was an amusement park that was nestled along the lake, a place
where families could enjoy rides and picnics by the beach. It was very popular
when I was growing up. Mona had taken me a few times.

He stopped at the dock, the sound of the water
slapping against the boats echoed around us. After he anchored us, we hopped
off the boat and strolled up the hill and into the crowd.

It was busy tonight; the lights, the music and the
people working the games yelling at us to play. It was loud, noisy and very
exciting. I felt like a kid again. The air smelled of popcorn, grease and the
sugary scent of cotton candy.

“Hey, buddy, you want to win a prize for your girl? I
bet she likes dolphins,” a guy in a red Wapoose amusement park T-shirt yelled
from his booth. He held up a big blue stuffed dolphin.

Nate strolled over and plunked money down onto the
counter.

“Nate, don’t. These games are really hard to win.” I
stood beside him, touching his arm.

He turned to me, gave me a wink and threw the ball,
knocking the group of five bottles down. That earned him a small stuffed pig.
He threw a couple more times, knocking them all down on each try. The worker
looked shocked as he handed Nate the big dolphin, taking the pathetic-looking
pig back.

“Thank you, I’ll sleep with him every night,” I said
after he handed me the soft plush toy.

We turned away from the game and started walking,
falling in with the crowd. A shrill alarm went off beside me, making me jump. I
looked over and saw a little boy had won at the water pistol game. He jumped up
and down shouting, “Wahoo!”

I smiled and took Nate’s hand.

We wandered around watching the kids go on rides and
play games. I felt at peace here. Nothing complicated at an amusement park;
just play and have fun, that’s it. I didn’t have to worry about fires, old
friends or snooty, stuck-up parents.

“Are you hungry?” he asked as we came up to a food
stand.

“Not really, we just had dinner a few hours ago. But I
could eat some cotton candy.”

He bought a cheeseburger for himself and a pink cotton
candy for me.

As I munched my treat and he gobbled his burger, we
strolled down the parkway toward the fishpond. We stopped and watched a little
girl in ringlets pull up her magnetic rod, which held a blue plastic fish. Her
grin was big, showing dimples and a few missing teeth. After a little boy with
a backwards hat took over we headed back into the crowd.

“Do you come here often?” I asked, pulling some cotton
candy from the stick and popping it in my mouth. The string of sugar melted
instantly onto my tongue.

“No, but I like to take the boat out and I’ve driven
past a few times. The lights are pretty at night.” He leaned in, taking a bite
of my cotton candy. “Umm, that’s good. I’ve never tried it before,” he mumbled,
his mouth still full.

“Really? Not even when you were a kid?”

He chuckled in a way that made me think I was missing
something. “Come on, we’re going on this ride.” He took my hand and pulled me
onto the Ferris wheel. I wasn’t really a fan of heights, but I ignored my fear
and took my place next to him. When the ride started and we slowly ascended, he
took my right hand in his. I used the other to squeeze the dolphin. “You’re
afraid of heights aren’t you?”

“A little. How could you tell?”

“I could feel you tense.” He rubbed my hand soothingly
with his thumb. “Don’t worry, you won’t fall. I won’t let anything happen to
you.”

I stared into his intense blue eyes and I knew he
meant every word. “Nate?”

He had turned away, looking down at the scene on the
ground, the people milling about, going on rides and playing games. “Hmm?” he
said absently.

“Why did you change your mind? Last week at school you
didn’t want anything to do with me. Was it because Eddie was going to fix me up
with his friend?”

He gave me a warm smile, his face aglow with
affection, but for a split second, his eyes looked tortured. “You heard that,
did you? I thought I heard the door open.” He sighed and bowed his head. “I
couldn’t be with you, like I said, but I couldn’t see you with anyone else. It
would kill me. It was bad enough watching you date guys at school, but to see
you every day at Riley House and listen to the two of you talk about you and
his friend—I couldn’t do it. So I was selfish. When you kissed me, I realized I
couldn’t pull away again.” He leaned in to touch his lips to mine. The movement
made the cart sway and we just happened to be on the top.

I grabbed hold of him, fear gripping me from the
inside. “Don’t move!”

“We won’t fall, I promise.”

I looked down at the ground.
God, we’re high
. I
needed a distraction. “So how long have you felt this way about me?”

“Oh, I don’t think you need to know that.”

“Come on, you said you watched me date guys, so that
means you liked me before now. And by the way, it wasn’t many.” Since the cart
stopped moving, I gently let go of his denim jacket.

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” He sighed heavily. “I wanted to
be with you since the first time I saw you.”

I raised my eyebrows in shock and then a slow smile
crept up upon my lips. “Three years ago?” He nodded. “I was leaning over a
table in the cafeteria. I felt someone behind me, so I turned around and you
just stood there staring at me with your intense blue eyes. I remember thinking
that you were the best-looking guy I had ever seen. I had the instant urge to
run my fingers through your thick wavy hair. When I smiled, you took off. That
was when I started liking you and even when I tried to make you jealous by
dating two guys in
three years,
you still never asked me out.”

“You remember that?” he whispered.

I nodded, feeling my cheeks go hot. Opening up to him
like that wasn’t planned. I didn’t mean to express those words, they just came
out. And now he was gazing at me and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. I
didn’t move or speak. His gaze was so strong I couldn’t look away. When the
ride slowed and we finally hung over the landing, he smiled, taking my hand and
pulled me out of the seat.

“Bumper cars next,” he said, tugging on my arm.

I sat in a red one, while he took a blue one with the
number eight on it. The light came on and we took off. The hook above me that
controlled my car raced around the metal roof, sending sparks flying.

I was slammed into by strangers a few times before I
got to Nate. I hit his car, sending him into a yellow one. His body fell
forward by the force of the blow. He wheeled around and smashed into me with a
laugh. He bumped me continuously before the ride was over.

“Have you had enough?” he asked, helping me out of my
car.

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

We giggled like kids as we ran down to the docks.

Once we were back on the boat, he took off. The cool
crisp wind and spray from the water blew through my hair. It felt exhilarating
going so fast with nothing but water all around us. I felt like we were flying.
He drove until we were in the middle of the lake and then stopped.

“Come here.” He grabbed my hand, pulling me onto the
deck with him.

We lay out onto the white fiberglass, side by side,
staring up at the stars, our fingers lightly touching. Billions of shiny specks
of light glittered above us, the vast blackness spreading out to infinity; a
never-ending darkness. It made me feel awfully small, like a tiny ant looking
up at giants walking above me.

I looked for patterns in the stars like I did almost
every night when I stargazed at home. The Big Dipper came into view, but it
didn’t interest me. I was looking for something that no one else could see—a
pattern in the stars that was only meant for me: a secret between me and the
dark sky. I was lost in my task when the sound of Nate’s soothing voice brought
me back to earth.

“I’m sorry I ignored you all this time. But someday
you’ll understand.” His voice was just above a whisper. I had to strain to hear
him.

His face was unreadable when I turned to look at him.
Instead of asking what he meant, I touched his face with my hand briefly before
focusing once again on the sky.

“There’s Orion’s belt,” he said pointing up at the
three tiny stars all in a row. “And there, that large scoop. You know what that
is, right?”

“Duh…the Big Dipper.”

He chuckled, his hand shooting out to give me a
playful slap on the shoulder. “There’s Cassiopeia…uh… oh and there’s Ursa
Major.” He stopped talking, turning his head to gaze at me.

With eyes full of longing, he reached out and gently
brushed his finger against my cheek, sending shivers all over my skin. His
fingers moved down to my chin. Leaning over, he gently brushed his lips against
my collar bone. Slowly and very softly, he moved up to my neck, leaving goose
bumps along the way. I felt his tongue slip out and gently glide along my skin
up to my ear and then finally finding my lips. He kissed me, opening his mouth
to take us deeper and then deeper still. I felt an explosion of need. The need
to explore the taste and textures of him, the tingle my lips felt when
his
moved softly over mine. The burn in the pit of my stomach when his teeth
nibbled my lip as he moved back to my jaw, then up to my ear, giving me a
chance to breath.

He pulled away, leaning above me, his hands resting on
the deck on either side of my head. He gazed down at me with a slight smirk on
his face. A giggle slipped out of me as he snuck a quick peck on my forehead
before he lay down beside me, his arm wrapped comfortably around my shoulder.

I sighed, never having felt as happy as I was with
him. It was funny how things changed so quickly. Just last week I was
miserable; now I found myself completely and utterly content. There was nowhere
else in this world I would rather be than right here on the deck of the Rileys’
speedboat, in the middle of Lake Wapoose, with Nate.

“It’s so peaceful here.” My voice sounded loud after
our long stretch of silence as we gazed out at the lake. The water lapped
against the boat, gently rocking us. The only other sound was far off in the
distance, the soft buzz of a motor. I looked up to see a man turn off his boat
and get a fishing rod out. He sat quietly casting his rod, floating on the
water, waiting for a nibble.

“Yes, it is. The Rileys let me take the boat out a
lot. I’ve even taken Eddie out a couple times fishing.”

I watched a sea gull swoop down and land on a large
boulder sitting in front of a small island. “Is that what you do on your free
time, fish?”

“Among other things.” He chuckled softly. “I like to
read and take walks in the woods on the Riley estate.”

“Why don’t you ever talk to anyone at school?” It was
a question I’d wanted to ask since the night of the fire.

“I guess I just haven’t found anyone interesting to
talk to.” He smiled, his eyes glowing in the low light. “Until now.”